SUEZ has published ten principles it says would create to a ‘world-leading’ producer responsibility scheme.

Launched at RWM by SUEZ recycling and recovery UK CEO David Palmer Jones, Unpackaging Extended Producer Responsibility is based on more than 25 workshops held over the past three months which brought together manufacturers, businesses and consumers.

Attendees including representatives of Scotland, Wales and UK government, Coca-Cola, Marks & Spencer and INCPEN took part in the workshops.

The role of producers and major retailers was a particular focus of the workshops and SUEZ’S manifesto, which was published in May this year.

SUEZ concluded that current obligations should be extended to a much wider range of goods, with producers contributing more to the cost of collection, recycling and disposal.

This would ‘spark a revolution’ in the way we view and treat waste, the report claimed.

The ten guiding principles are:

More sustainable product design

Enhanced brand equity for good performers

A fair and level playing field for all producers (including internet and global sellers)

Better informed consumers;

A competitive marketplace

Innovation in materials, products and recycling systems,

Simplicity for all participants

A system delivered at minimal cost to the consumer

Seeking to deter fraud and crime

Rewarding or penalising businesses in a meaningful way based on their performance

The report also provides a model showing how these principles can be achieved through the value chain.

It said producers should pay a deposit of modulated fee covering the full costs associated with managing the materials in their products at the end of life stage.

This would encourage producers to create more sustainable products as they would pay less for items with a lower environmental impact.

Stuart Hayward-Higham, SUEZ technical director, said: “Designing an extended producer responsibility scheme which is efficient in both cost and delivery, and which therefore minimises passed-on costs to consumers, is essential.

“We also believe that consumers should be given simple, on-product, information so they can make informed choices about the sustainability of the things they purchase.”